More than 1,000 people gathered at Soldier Field in Chicago to celebrate the life of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Jan. 20, 2025. The PUSH for Excellence Dr. King Breakfast continues the impactful work of the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. through the organization and honors the legacy of one of the world’s most celebrated and historic figures. The mood was celebratory and purposeful as this year’s event coincided with Donald Trump’s second presidential inauguration.
The breakfast marked a homecoming for keynote speaker Ben Jealous, executive director of the Sierra Club. Jealous was 14 when he first met Jackson and followed the civil rights leader’s path. He served as the youngest president and CEO of the NAACP from 2008 to 2013. His work on civil rights, criminal justice and police accountability has helped reshape narratives nationwide. Rolling out asked Jealous about the significance of this year’s breakfast before he delivered his speech.
Jealous cites history in present struggle
“Today’s breakfast is significant because we still have Rev. Jackson with us, and he really is that continuity that connects us to Dr. King and even beyond that to Frederick Douglass,” Jealous said. “Today’s breakfast is also important because tomorrow in Chicago, President Trump’s first order of business is to humiliate thousands of families, to target them, to tear apart loved ones who don’t have status. And we know that from the days of Frederick Douglass fighting the Chinese Exclusion Act, to Dr. King ending the Europe-only preference for migration to this country, that a key way of dividing us has always been to attack immigrants and one of our key responsibilities has always been to stand up to defend them as part of our human family.
“That’s what the Rainbow PUSH coalition has been about. From the days of young Rev. Jackson organizing it. And even from Fred Hampton first putting those words out there. Pulling together the young patriots and the young lords with the Black Panthers. It’s the ethos of Chicago itself. Yes. We are one family.”
Country at war with ideals
The Trump inauguration and the Dr. King holiday sharing the same date speaks to a country at war with its own ideals. The next four years will measure how far America moves toward or away from Dr. King’s dream.
